Sophia Clark opens the Jaws of Victory for Champions for Charity and MacKids
By Jeff Hicks
Cambridge—
Sophia Clark circles the ring methodically, like a hungry deep-sea predator.
Ring the bell. There is a shark in the Tapestry Hall water.
“I emulate a shark in the ring,” said Clark, one of Mandy Bujold’s 20 Champions for Charity taking their first swing at boxing on April 24 to raise funds for MacKids.
“I come in slow. I’m strategic. Then, I just go in for the kill.”
Clark, a 43-year-old project manager for Govan Brown and Associates construction in Kitchener, moves side-to-side as she advances. Her husband Jonny, a site superintendent for Dufferin Aggregates, came up with her toothy two-fisted alias.
She is The Shark.
She is also mom, to Cash, 5, and Nate, 7. There’s wild energy in this shiver of Team Clark sharks. The boys love when mom puts her boxing gloves on to train for 16 weeks to become a Champion for Charity. Together they all put their fins in and do a family cheer.
“They are my entourage,” said Clark, who loves the open water.
And they’ve all helped this fourth edition of the Champs close in on a $1-million raised for McMaster Children’s Hospital foundation.
Fight Night is sold out but the live stream always has seats with a great view. It’s the bigger boat you need for the biggest bout for these community leaders.
The Brawl at Tapestry Hall always delivers a degree of contusion.
There may also be a touch of same-name confusion this year too.
Clark’s opponent? Clark.
It’s Sophia Clark vs. Michelle Clark.
It’s Clark vs. Clark. Kind of like Kramer vs. Kramer or Spy vs. Spy.
Mother of two from Whitby. Mother of two from Guelph.
Blue Team Clark vs. Red Team Clark.
“People are joking that it’s the Battle of the Clarks,” said Sophia, who will laterally undulate up to the ring to a hip-hop version of the menacing Jaws movie theme.
“I don’t know her. It’s a coincidence we have the same last name but it’s kind of fun.”
It’s a lot more fun to be the shark. Less fun to be the prey.
So, on Fight Night, Clark will clutch her bracelet of charms that chase any negative energy away. The fingerprints of her boys are on there. Her initials too. A Tree of Life pendant. A cross.
And the blue Evil Eye. Maybe that will help fend off for her Red Team opponent.
“No one messes with a shark.”
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